"I've been thinking that I'd like to see the next book take a different direction than the last," Beaton wrote in an update on her blog.

"Not just a Volume II, but something new to offer. And I've been ready to do something different as well. I'd like to tell some stories that mean something to me, with a personal connection."

Beaton added: "I am trying to find the tone I'd like, and practice a different way of telling stories. Collections of small stories that paint a big picture. It's the little moments that interest me, human, and funny, and sad, because that's life."

Hark! A Vagrant is best known for its humorous and incisive take on classic characters from literature and comics.

Beaton previously said that she would be slowing down on the project to focus on new ventures.